A Norman Hartnell bridesmaid’s dress and headdress worn to the wedding of the future Queen Elizabeth II to Prince Philip in 1947 is going up for sale at Christie’s.
Worn by Lady Elizabeth Longman – the Queen’s childhood friend and a member of the monarch’s inner circle until her death in 2016 – the sleeveless dress was inspired by the floral motifs of Botticelli’s “Primavera” and the symbolism of Britain’s regrowth after World War II.
Now the creation will go on public display in London as part of the “The Exceptional Sale” exhibition at Christie’s from June 28 until the morning of the sale on July 2.
Longman’s dress, estimated to sell for 30,000 to 50,000 pounds (38,000 to 64,000), in 2012 was worn by the British model Kate Moss at Houghton Hall. It was previously loaned to the Fashion Museum of Bath, in England, from the ‘80s to the early 2000s.
Norman Hartnell, who was also the designer behind the late monarch’s satin wedding gown, is best known for the dresses he designed for Queen Elizabeth during the first half of her reign, including one worn for the coronation in 1953. It is a white duchess satin gown featuring floral emblems representing the queen’s nine dominions, Britain and the Commonwealth regions, picked out in shiny threads, seed pearls, sequins and crystals.
Princess Beatrice who was given a Hartnell gown by the Queen, her grandmother, wore it in 2020 to marry the Italian Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Elizabeth II was pictured in the dress in 1962 attending a performance of “Lawrence of Arabia.”
